<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>My Love for a Smile by peanutbutter_ricecups</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573233">My Love for a Smile</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peanutbutter_ricecups/pseuds/peanutbutter_ricecups'>peanutbutter_ricecups</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mafia Universe [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, secret mafia boss akira</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:48:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573233</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peanutbutter_ricecups/pseuds/peanutbutter_ricecups</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Visiting the office made him nervous, more so for the workers than for himself, but he'd bear the burden of formality for him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mafia Universe [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1109961</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>My Love for a Smile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ryuji’s dress shoes tapped loudly against the pristine tile floor. He made his way through the halls and up the stairs (he hated how others were too intimidated by him to stand in the elevator with him). When he came up on the top floor, a man was already waiting patiently at the other side of the door.</p>
<p>“We welcome you to our humble office, Ryuji-san.” As if on cue, he and the other employees, already standing outside of their cubicles expecting him as well, bowed down to the hip with their heads perfectly parallel to the floor. Even after all these years he still isn’t used to the excessive formality when seeing Akira at work.</p>
<p>“Yeah… thank you for having me.”</p>
<p>The man stood back up, but everyone behind him stayed bent over. “The pleasure is all our’s. May I ask what we owe the pleasure of your company today?”</p>
<p>“Akira and I made plans tonight, is he busy?”</p>
<p>“Currently Kurusu-sama is in a meeting with chief of security Nijima-san; however, I’m positive Kurusu-sama would like to be made aware of your presence regardless.”</p>
<p>Ryuji waved his hand, “If he’s busy I can wait, it’s no big deal.”</p>
<p>The employee nodded politely, “I will be sure to let Kurusu-sama know of your sentiments.”</p>
<p>Ryuji thought it was just a roundabout way of saying he was still going to tell him regardless. Though he wanted to wrinkle his nose at the guy, the slightest bit of negative emotion he displayed here was always blown out of proportion and he didn’t want to give him a heart attack for accidentally saying the wrong thing. “Sure.”</p>
<p>The employee bowed his head again before leaving him to go tell ‘Kurusu-sama’.</p>
<p>Left alone with employees still staring at the floor, Ryuji awkwardly stood with his hands in his pocket and slouched against the staircase door. An older looking man near him struggled to keep his glasses from slipping. When they fell gracefully onto the floor, his shoulder stiffened, and Ryuji could hear him swallow harshly.</p>
<p>He didn’t make a move to pick them up and only stared at them on the floor, so Ryuji took it upon himself to get them for him. “Maybe invest in a new pair, old man,” he joked. “Back in highschool Akira’s old pair fell into the garbage, went the whole day blind as a bat.”</p>
<p>The employee didn’t look up but bent down lower when handed back his glasses, making sure to take it with both hands and being as careful as possible not to accidentally brush hands. “Thank you very much, Sakamato-san. I will take your comments to heart.”</p>
<p>The lack of eye contact was unnerving. The whole exchange was unnerving, but he figured it was as good as he was gonna get. It was already much more than anybody else had given him. “Don’t worry about it,” he shrugged off.</p>
<p>Nobody made a move for the next few minutes. After a while, it became obvious they all seemed too focused in keeping their stance and not stumbling for fear of 'messing up’ like grandpa did. There was no way staying like that was good for any of their backs, but nobody shifted in discomfort. Ryuji figured even if he told them to straighten up they would have remained like that either way.</p>
<p>It didn't take long for the silence to start getting to him; some employees seemed to go as far as holding back on breathing to keep quiet. Before he could speak up and tell them to knock it off and just get back to work, he heard the familiar tapping of Akiras disgustingly lavish work shoes down the hall. Suddenly glad for the silence, he pushed off the wall and started shifting from foot to foot. Even though he'd just seen him that morning at breakfast, going the extra mile and seeing him at work was always exciting.</p>
<p>Akira gracefully opened the door and immediately met his gaze. Ryuji felt warm as Akira's eyes took in the outfit Ann had helped him choose. “Damn, who here gave my boyfriend a fashion sense?”</p>
<p>Ryuji scoffed. “Oh, <em> haha </em>. Who gave my boyfriend a sense of humour?”</p>
<p>They met each other halfway, Akira immediately pulled him in for a hug and Ryuji happily tucked himself into his neck. “Are you out of your meeting?” He asked.</p>
<p>Akira hummed into his hair, “More or less. Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“If you say so.”</p>
<p>“I <em> do </em> say so.”</p>
<p>They parted with Ryuji rolling his eyes, hands going back into his pocket. “So where are we going? I’ve been looking forward to date night all week.”</p>
<p>That made Akira smile and grab his face to plant a sweet kiss on his lips, employees be damned. “I guess I’ve got some pretty big expectations to meet.”</p>
<p>Ryuji grinned and leaned in to press another against him. “Haven’t disappointed me yet.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Even though Ann had painstakingly told him to not mess with the outfit, he couldn’t handle the double layering of a jacket over a sweater (even if it was a light one). As soon as they entered the ramen place, he immediately shucked it off and pulled at his collar. Akira watched on affectionately, seeing him dressed up was nice but it never lasted long with how easily overheated he got.</p>
<p>Akira gave an exaggerated sigh, propped his chin on his hand and tapped their feet together. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day… it feels like I hardly get to see you anymore.”</p>
<p>Ryuji laughed, “You see me everyday, when we wake up and then again before bed; not to mention throughout the day when our schedules line up.”</p>
<p>He sighed again pulling his ankle in closer, “If I could I’d have you by my side twenty four seven.”</p>
<p>“Ha, I don’t think I’d be able to handle being around your employees for that long,” Ryuji complained thoughtlessly. Turning back to his drink, he missed the not so subtle look in Akira’s eyes; suddenly so intense and contemplative. He was able to shake it off before Ryuji looked back, but his tight grin must have given him away as he was quick to fix his comment. “Not that they’re particularly shitty, just kind of tense to be around ya know? Don’t go firing anyone on my account,” he joked.</p>
<p>Akira laughed, but his sharp smile sat dangerously on his lips. “I wouldn’t fire anybody for something like that, I’m not <em> that </em> petty.”</p>
<p>Ryuji barked out a laugh, making some customers turn and glare in their direction but he took it in stride. “Please, you tore up Morgana’s cat bed after he chewed up my sneakers. Who knows how far you’d go if somebody in your office <em> actually </em> pissed me off.”</p>
<p>
  <span>Rolling his eyes good nature, Akira took his hand above the table and idly stroked his knuckles with his thumb. "I'd do anything for you, you know? You need only say the word."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sudden passion in his gaze and the sweetness of the gesture had Ryuji blushing. How Akira could go from playfully to fierce in the same breath was a mystery, but was one of the many things he loved about him. Ryuji laced their fingers together and gave a small squeeze, hoping it relayed the message that the feeling was mutual, and gave a wide grin. "I love you." He says breathlessly, "I know I say it a lot, but it's true every time. I love you, Akira."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akira's heart beat mad inside his chest. Each word further punctuating the extent he'd go for his love. The lives he'd take and bonds he'd break to ensure that smile stayed kind and carefree on his lovers features. He couldn't possibly know what that smile does to him, but Akira didn't mind; he was fine with the other not knowing all he'd done and will continue to do for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So long as he remained on the other end of that bright, all encompassing grin, it'd all be worth it.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>